Congratulations to Northwest Catholic High School freshman and St. Brigid-St. Augustine School alum, Evan Thompson pictured with Democratic State Representative and Assistant Majority Leader Brandon McGee.

Recently, Thompson won first-place in the 2017 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Competition and $1,500 dollars. The topic for Thompson's winning speech was: Can law enforcement and people of color build a better community?

With the audience and judges listening intently, Thompson confidently stated, "After pondering this question in deep thought and looking at it from a variety of perspectives, I say, yes! Most definitely, yes, we can collaborate with law enforcement, if we put our differences aside and acknowledge the reality of our issues. There is always a possibility, an opportunity to start the process of an "us" rather than an "us" versus law enforcement!"

Nodding in agreement an impressed McGee stated, "Evan is an amazing public speaker. Several members of my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, have heard Evan speak before. He does a lot of public speaking engagements, which definitely helped to sharpen his oratorical skill-set.

"As a freshman, this was Evan's first-time competing on the high school level. His speech was so compelling, he actually beat several seniors," continued McGee. "Evan definitely has a bright future in public speaking or anything else that he chooses to do."

The entire speech can be seen on You Tube under the heading of: CT's Evan Thompson or CT Evan Thompson.

Evan resides in Bloomfield and is a member of Hopewell Baptist Church in Windsor, CT

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